His father is the third-largest casino operator in the world, and the family's fortune is protected by a squadron of security agents who can spot a cheater in a second.

As a driver and car owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Gaughan isn't doing the watching; he's the one being watched.

Either way, Gaughan said there's no fine line between playing by the rules or cheating.

"They say it's not cheating if you don't get caught," Gaughan said. "Cheating is cheating. Period."

Jimmie Johnson's winning car was too low at Las Vegas, and second-place Kyle Busch was too high. NASCAR responded with a powerful penalty: Both crew chiefs were fined, both teams lost 25 points in the national standings and both crew chiefs were suspended for two races.

The National Stock Car Commission reduced the suspension to probation, but NASCAR's position remains clear. Cheating is no longer chic.

"Consider this the warning," NASCAR president Mike Helton told the drivers and crew chiefs at Atlanta. "Don't hang your hat on traditional reactions. You should not depend on NASCAR's traditional reactions to incidents that occur after a race where you don't fit. Our responsibility is to make sure the playing field is level and everything is on the table at NASCAR's option to react.

"NASCAR will do whatever it feels like it has to do to maintain the confidence of everybody in the garage that everyone is playing on the same playing field. Whether it is intentional or it's not intentional, there is a box that you have to fit in and it's our responsibility to react when it doesn't work."

Once considered part of the sport's charm, cheating now is regarded with disdain because operating in the gray area - and beyond - only increases the ante to play the game.

When crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Alan Gustafson convinced the commission there were other circumstances that prompted their cars to flunk inspection, others in the garage area said it sent out a bad message to those who stay within the rules.

"That's what's wrong with America now," crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain told the Richmond Times Dispatch. "Every time somebody screws up, we tell them it's all right. You don't pay your bills, you can file bankruptcy. You kill somebody, spend 10 years in jail, and we'll let you out.

"That's what's wrong with society now, man. If you do the crime, do the time. If you had the guts to do it, have the guts to take your punishment."

Said Knaus, "I don't like the word cheater. If you've done something intentional against the rules that are black and white, then it's cheating. If you've had something happen mechanically with the race car, then that's OK."

When Knaus was caught cheating in 2002, he admitted he was looking for an advantage. He also justified it by saying, "Besides, the other guys are cheating more than we are."

A year ago Jamie McMurray's team was caught with an illegal car at the Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR fined his crew chief and deducted 25 points from McMurray - a penalty that eventually kept him from competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

NASCAR said suspensions - National Stock Car Commission permitting - is the newest way to escalate the punishments. Taking victories away is the next step.

Crew chief Todd Berrier was fined; his driver, Kevin Harvick, had 25 points deducted, and he was suspended four races for using a fake gas tank during pole qualifying at Las Vegas. McMurray said a better punishment would have been to force Berrier to use the same gas tank during the 400-mile race.

Until the risks outweigh the advantages, the cat-and-mouse game between the race teams and NASCAR will continue.

"Everybody is still pushing the envelope," Kyle Petty said. "That's the give and take of the sport."

Petty said if NASCAR looked hard enough, it could find infractions on every car in the garage area - much like offensive holding in football.

"It's part of the game," Petty said.

While NASCAR is handing out stiffer penalties for teams that don't follow the letter of the law, the sanctioning body makes it difficult by keeping many of its rules in a gray area. Many of its violations are lumped into a vague area known as "actions detrimental to NASCAR." It gives the sanctioning body a lot of latitude in which rules are enforced, and when they're enforced.

"It's up to their discretion," Casey Mears said, "so you never know for sure."